heart of glass • joe burrow

031

september 26th, 2022

she said no. and she didn't even have a reason. what did joe do wrong?

joe isn't mad at her, he can't be. he just wants to know why she said no. was he not good enough?

never in a million years did joe think she would say no. she loved him more than he ever thought he deserved.

whenever he felt like an old cardigan under someone's bed, it was like kenzie put it on and said it was her favorite.

joe didn't want anything grand from kenzie. to kiss in cars and downtown bars was all he needed.

kenzie drew stars around joe's scars but now he's bleeding. when kenzie left, she ran like water. she left and she didn't turn back.

joe knew kenzie would linger like a tattoo kiss. he knew she'd haunt all of his what ifs. what if she said yes? what if he did more?

joe just wishes kenzie would come back. he didn't care what happened but he needed her back. she was like the air to his lungs.

fighting with a true loves is like boxing with no gloves. once joe got in his car, he drove home.

once he got home, he showered and laid down. he couldn't feel. he wasn't sad or angry or anything.

joe wishes he could just block out his own thoughts so that he could go to sleep. he called jamar to tell him.

"joe?" jamar said once he answered the phone.

"she said no." joe said sighing.

"i know." jamar replied. how did he know.

"huh?" joe responded. "how do you know?"

"because she came to my house." jamar said. "i think she regrets saying no, though."

"let her stay the night please." joe said. he wanted kenzie to be safe.

"i am, she's in the guest room." jamar said. "i think she's gonna come talk to you tomorrow. i kind of forced her."

"okay, thank you jamar." joe said hanging up the phone.

september 27th, 2022

kenzie woke up and left jamar's around 8 in the morning. she didn't have anywhere to go now, so she wandered aimlessly in her car.

kenzie tried to collect her thoughts as to what she would say to joe. she blew things out of proportion.

why'd she have to break what she loves so much?

it's all kenzie, in her head. she's the one that burned them down. but it's not what she meant to do. she didn't want to hurt joe.

kenzie waited in her car until it was an appropriate time of the day. she waited until around 12 before she drove in the direction of joe's house.

once she made it, she took a deep breath and got out of her car. she hesitantly knocked on the door. almost immediately, joe opened it.

he let her in, neither of them spoke. joe sat down on the couch, kenzie didn't. she stood about 4 feet away from joe, towards the other end of the living room.

joe looked at her, he didn't speak, he just looked at her with an expression kenzie couldn't despiser.

after almost 2 minutes of silence, not the silence the pair was used to. it wasn't comfortable, it was the complete opposite. kenzie finally spoke.

"i'm sorry." kenzie said. joe didn't respond, instead he had a question of his own.

"why'd you say no?" joe asked. kenzie was asked this same question, not even 24 hours ago.